Leveraging EA Concepts to Make Your SOA a Guaranteed Success David S. Linthicum

The Basic Idea SOA at a high level is well defined. However, the procedures, approaches, tools, technology, to-dos, and expected results are not. In this session we’ll learn how to view your problem domain holistically, and how to break it down to its component parts, building it up again into a functional SOA that will pay for itself in the shortest period of time.

Copyright 2007 The Linthicum Group, LLC

Current Issues Competing frameworks/approaches –Zachman Framework –Gartner/Meta Group –Open Group’s TOGAF (SOA Reference Architecture) –Vendors (IBM, Oracle, BEA, etc.) –Roll-your-own Hype-driven confusion (e.g., “SOA 2.0”) Lack of leadership Processes moving outside of the firewall Departments operating independent of oversight More enterprise applications are Web-delivered Technology as a business advantage and cost saving mechanism

Copyright 2007 The Linthicum Group, LLC Understanding the Forces at Work SOA SaaS Web 2.0 Emerging Standards Hype Enterprise Architecture Cost Reduction

Copyright 2007 The Linthicum Group, LLC EA and SOA…Let’s Face Facts There seems to be two worlds out there, the world of enterprise architecture and the world of SOA. –“The funny thing is that those in each world thinks that they can do the other world's jobs.” –“The end result...there is not a lot of synergy there yet.”

Copyright 2007 The Linthicum Group, LLC More good news… Some traditional enterprise architects have not done a stellar job in understanding the opportunities within SOA, generally speaking, and the SOA guys have not figured out how SOA meshes with existing enterprise architecture standards, notions, and practices, again generally speaking.

Copyright 2007 The Linthicum Group, LLC State of Things The survey was of 196 Information Technology (IT) decision makers. "Indicators point to the fact that IT professionals overwhelmingly support the SOA concept with 56 percent reporting they believe their company would benefit from a SOA. Among those who have experienced a SOA implementation, 73 percent would recommend other companies follow suit and adopt a SOA approach. “

Copyright 2007 The Linthicum Group, LLC But, there is Reality Hype is huge, and management by magazine is the way of the world these days. –“I got to git me one of them SOAs” –“A SOA will fix that.” –“SOA 2.0” Bad practices: –Selecting technology before understanding your requirements and needs. –Not linking back to accepted EA best practices. –Not creating a business case. –Using the wrong people. –Lacking funding and empowerment.

Copyright 2007 The Linthicum Group, LLC So, Why SOA? Improved Adaptability and Agility –Respond to business needs in near real-time Functional Reusability –Eliminate the need for large scale rip and replace Independent Change Management –Focus on configuration rather than programming Interoperability instead of point-to-point integration –Loosely-coupled framework, services in network Orchestrate rather than integrate –Configuration rather than development to deliver business needs

Copyright 2007 The Linthicum Group, LLC The Value Proposition of a SOA We implement SOA for two major reasons. –First is the ability to save development dollars through reuse of services. –Second is the ability to change the IT infrastructure faster to adapt to changing needs of the business, or agility. –Enhance, not replace, existing EA.

Copyright 2007 The Linthicum Group, LLC Reuse…Yes Again Under the concept of service reuse, we have a few things we need to determine to better define the value. These include: –The number of services that are reusable. Complexity of the services. The degree of reuse from system to system. The number of reusable services is the actual number of new services created, or, existing services abstracted, that are potentially reusable from system to system. The complexity of the services is the number of functions or object points that make up the service. Finally, the degree of reuse from system to system is the number of times you actually reuse the services. We look at this number as a percentage.

Copyright 2007 The Linthicum Group, LLC So, What do you Do? In order to determine their value we must first determine the Number of Services that are available for Reuse (NSR), the Degree of Reuse (DR) from system to system, as well as the Complexity (C) of each service. The formula to determine value looks much like this: Value = (NSR*DR) * C

Copyright 2007 The Linthicum Group, LLC SOA=Agility Agility is a strategic advantage that is difficult to measure in hard dollars, but not impossible. We first need to determine a few things about the business, including: The degree of change over time is really the number of times over a particular period that the business reinvents itself to adapt to a market. The ability to adapt to change is a number that states the company’s ability to react to the need for change over time. Finally, the relative value of change is the amount of money made as a direct result of changing the business.

Copyright 2007 The Linthicum Group, LLC Data Abstraction Data Data Services/Messaging LegacyLegacy Services Process/Orchestration Monitoring/Event Management Governance Rep Security Internet- Based Services New Services SOA Meta Model

Copyright 2007 The Linthicum Group, LLC How Do you Build A SOA? Understand your business objectives and define success. Define your problem domain. Understand all application semantics. Understand all services. Understand all processes. Define new services. Define new processes. Select your technology set. Deploy SOA technology. Test and evaluate SOA solution.

Copyright 2007 The Linthicum Group, LLC Understand your business objectives and define success. ROI Define ROI Create Business Case Business Case Business Case

Copyright 2007 The Linthicum Group, LLC Define your problem domain System Descriptions System Descriptions System Complexity Analysis SOA POC POC Results POC Results Domain Descriptions Domain Descriptions Vendors

Copyright 2007 The Linthicum Group, LLC Understand all application semantics in your domain. SOA Metadata SOA Metadata Meta data analysis Data abstraction layer definition Data Abstraction Layer Data Abstraction Layer Data services definition Data Services Data Services Legacy Metadata Legacy Metadata External Metadata (B2B) External Metadata (B2B)

Copyright 2007 The Linthicum Group, LLC Understand all services in your domain. Candidate Services Candidate Services Service analysis Metadata and services analysis Services And Information Services And Information Performance analysis Services And Performance Services And Performance Legacy Services Legacy Services External Services (B2B) External Services (B2B) SOA Metadata SOA Metadata

Copyright 2007 The Linthicum Group, LLC Understand all processes in your domain. Candidate Processes Candidate Processes Process analysis. Define metadata, services, and processes Processes, Services, And Information Processes, Services, And Information Process integration analysis. Process Integration Diagrams Process Integration Diagrams Candidate Services Candidate Services External Processes (B2B) External Processes (B2B) SOA Metadata SOA Metadata

Copyright 2007 The Linthicum Group, LLC Define new services. Candidate Processes Candidate Processes Service definition. Service design. Processes, Services, And Information Processes, Services, And Information Service implementation. Process Integration Diagrams Process Integration Diagrams SOA Metadata SOA Metadata Candidate Services Candidate Services Service Definition Service Definition Service Design Service Design Service Implementation Service Implementation

Copyright 2007 The Linthicum Group, LLC Define new processes. Candidate Processes Candidate Processes Process definition. Process design. Processes, Services, And Information Processes, Services, And Information Process implementation. Process Integration Diagrams Process Integration Diagrams Metadata Candidate Services Candidate Services Process Definition Process Definition Process Design Process Design Process Implementation Process Implementation

Copyright 2007 The Linthicum Group, LLC Select your technology set. Technology Requirements Technology Requirements Define requirements. Technology analysis. Technology solution Technology solution Vendors Define candidate technology. Technology selection. Technology validation.

Copyright 2007 The Linthicum Group, LLC “SOA is Good EA…” Pay me now, or pay me later. Make sure you do it right the first time…get the help you need. Don’t be afraid to experiment, and admit you’re wrong…backup and try again. Keep your vendors working with you. Empower those working, so they can work to get things done. Avoid politics, if possible. Learn all you can, but don’t get caught up in the hype. Put standards in their proper place. Small battles win the war…Keep that in mind. Give yourself plenty of time, never skimp on any of the steps.

Copyright 2007 The Linthicum Group, LLC Thanks! Blogs: –eBizq.net “Linthicum Channel” –InfoWorld “Real World SOA” –Intelligent Enterprise “SaaS Advisor” Weekly Podcast –InfoWorld SOA Report Columns –Web Services Journal –eBizq.net